ADs don't want your freedom, ADs don't want to play around

[BogRollBOGOF]

🎵 Every day I hear a different story
People sayin' that you’re no good for me
Saw your lover with another
And she’s making a fool of you, oh

🎵 If you love me baby, you'd deny it
But you laugh and tell me I should try it
Tell me I’m a baby, and I don't understand

Go Wham!

OK, so with your help and my family's, I have survived tube and overground journeys. Now for the bus. I have got my lanyard and the tube and overground were absolutely fine so no reason the bus won't be too, right?

In my area at least buses are very easy for people to go maskless...last week I was on the bottom deck and felt like a div as I think I was the only one who was wearing it! You'll be fine

I know. DS has been finding going to school difficult so I said that I would do something I find difficult today so that we both had to push ourselves a bit. I said I would go on a bus and into a bookshop so I am now keeping my promise.

I am guessing that Waterstones cares more about my money than whether I mask up or not. I hope.

First step done, on the bus. Thanks all of you, it helps to post here as I do the hard things

I'm ok with 12-15 year olds being offered the vaccine. I'm not comfortable with the noises about them being allowed to over-rule their parents, but that's part of a wider unease I have about what decisions teens are allowed to make for themselves against parental advice. It also seems odd to me that this is set against treating teens like children for longer and longer (e.g. compulsory education/ training up to 18).

I can't help feeling that we're sliding inexorably towards two things - one, a lowering of the age of consent and two, the state taking on more and more what used to be the functions of parents in deciding what teens should be allowed to do. I'm opposed to the first for reasons that shouldn't need stating, and to the second because, except in exceptional circumstances (and we have social workers, etc for those circumstances), I believe that parents generally know their children better and have their best interests at heart more, than the state.

Teens are so easily manipulated and see things very black and white. They also feel a need to demonstrate which tribe they belong to. Many of those I see wearing masks outside are teens, presumably demonstrating they are good citizens. (Weirdly often with unmasked adults)

No, I think that makes sense. If their parents were masked, they wouldn't be. It's to indicate that they are not with those sad oldies, they're separate.

Your point still stands though.

And I made it to the bookshop and back and remembered the real reason I dislike buses. I get bus sick. But I kept my promise to DS. And that's all forms of public transport I can go on again. Next quest, libraries

I've wondered if some teens wear masks out of insecurity and it's a convenient thing to hide behind. I could see my best friend from school being very willing to do that (plus all her OCD rituals being validated by hand sanitiser everywhere, never mind the dermatitis from excessive washing)

The trouble is growing up involves faving things that you are uncomfortable with.

I find it sad when MNers have said that they like them because they feel ugly and have no confidence.

I had a nice little "normal" moment earlier, just walking into a small independent shop and getting on with it. They didn't have what I wanted but I suddenly realised that it would have been a "thing" for me to do before August as I'd got very much stuck in my "safe" places where the protocols were familiar.

@BogRollBOGOF. I also wondered whether some people liked masks because they are insecure about how they look. I’m fortunate to be fairly confident about the way I look, and I cannot begin to understand how it must feel to be considered plain or ugly in a world that places so much emphasis on how we look.

We also had a very normal work thing today. It’s a specific celebration that my place of work does and we haven’t done it since before lockdown. Everyone commented on how nice it was for normal to be back.

[quote Worldgonecrazy]@BogRollBOGOF. I also wondered whether some people liked masks because they are insecure about how they look. I’m fortunate to be fairly confident about the way I look, and I cannot begin to understand how it must feel to be considered plain or ugly in a world that places so much emphasis on how we look.[/quote]
How can people think that covering up half their face - the part of their face that is the most expressive - makes them look better? All it does is make non-verbal communication, which we rely on so much, impossible.

It's very sad to think that there might be people out there that feel that way about their appearance

@BogRollBOGOF, the insecure teen thing is accurate. A friend's DD said she liked masks because she can hide behind them .

Hitler knew that if you could control the children that control would last a lifetime

I've never been "popular" or trendy. I've always had a cluster of friends. I did get picked on a few times at school as people thought I made an easy target (small, would go off and do my own thing, lived out of catchment) but nothing too awful or sustained. I remember being about 14 walking home and hearing laughter behind me and paranoia kicked in that they were laughing at me, then a little voice kicked in on top saying "who cares if they are laughing at me, I like me!" and that's always stuck with me. I've got a decent grasp of my strengths and weaknesses, I do more good in the world than harm, I follow things that interest and stimulate me. If people like me, that's great (and they'll get a genuine me because I'm not putting on an act to please others), if they don't like me there are so many other opportunities out there.

It's sad that so many people tie themselves in knots in persuit of conforming and blending in.

Whatever lies ahead this autumn/ winter at least more people feel able to speak their minds about it and be critical of it than conforming to a sanctimonious script because it's Right Think.

A few positive reports from me.
Saw a colleague in Boots yesterday - she wasn't wearing a mask either.
I'm noticing more people at work not wearing masks (where they are recommended when moving around) which is giving me courage to wear mine less.
Saw a lovely old friend who last summer was quite anxious about Covid. Today we had a hug when we saw each other.

We viewed a secondary school last night which is a win in itself!
There wasn't a requirement to wear them which was good although staff and pupils doing demos did, but there were hundreds of people flowing through the evening.

It suddenly occured to me part-eat througj that it was the biggest, busiest event I've been to so far. I had been worried about acclimatising back to crowds as I never was the best anyway. Being short, I end up down amongst a sea of shoulders and that gets my warm, humid triggers going, and I struggle to see or hear what's going on. (This wasn't that level of crowded though)

Waterstones don’t seem to care whether I wear my mask either.
Good luck with choosing a secondary school BogRollBOGOF.

When I went, the lady at the till was just pleased at my stack of books that I was buying 📚

There's definitely a disconnect between the 90% normal in most of the real world and certain corners of a popular forum targeted at parents.
Then sometimes you come across a random place that is more risk averse which can be weird.

I've said it before but I'm going to say it again. My very multi cultural working class part of London is tired of the restrictions etc and just likes to pretend it hasn't happened or isn't anymore. People who are wearing masks on the street or in the shops aren't stared at or anything like that but they are in the minority. Public transport it's a 50:50 thing as to who is wearing one and we do have to sit next to strangers sometimes. The yellow tapes and sanitiser stations are still there but the tape is peeling and the sanitiser is ignored a lot more than before. I don't mean we don't care, just an incredible amount of people have had it already or been around someone who had so have lessened their view of risk.

I can’t believe what I read about Italy in the news this morning. It is so unbelievable I had to check the source.

No vaccine = no WORK

Not just no job, no work, even if you’re self employed.

Utterly contemptible but enough people are so scared of covid it will be pushed through.

And so easy to add on ‘no jab, no social security’ later.

No allowance for natural immunity, and a complete removal of bodily autonomy.

All for a virus that, in the really big scheme of things has a low IFR.

Again I find myself asking, what the fuck is really going on?

I don't think it's quite that bad, World - I read that it was proof of vaccine, negative test or recovery from covid.

(I still don't agree with vaccine/covid passports, though).

People can't reason or generalise. They can't see that if they hand over bodily autonomy, then that could be applied to things other than Covid. They can't see that the government don't need to microchip is to track us if they insist on vaccine passports. They've always had (a reasonable level of) freedom and they can't see how easy it is to lose it.

Scared people can't see those things and are easy to manipulate.